Supernaturalis Magica
by Silly Sentry
Summary: Despair can bring about hope, just as hope can shrivel into the darkest of despairs. AU, Teenage SPN Ladies.


"Excuse me, miss Middleton. Visiting hours are over."

From behind, a nurse's gentle, feminine voice could be heard - the voice of Catharine, one of the nurses in charge of working the later shifts. With the increasingly habitual hospital visits, Charlie had gotten to know many of the staff members, at least by name; Catharine was one of the more friendly nurses.

With a gentle flutter of pages, J. R. R Tolkein's _The Hobbit_ came to a close, but not without a bookmark being placed inside of the novel beforehand.

"Got it," the redheaded young girl turned, only to face the nurse, "I'll be out in just a minute."

Catharine nodded, a sympathetic smile on her face as she walked away from the door, disappearing moments later. It was then that Charlie turned, quickly and unhesitatingly, to the woman lying in the hospital bed,

"Good night, mom," she whispered, quickly kissing the older woman on the forehead, "I love you."

Visiting the local hospital was routine for Charlie B. Middleton, ever since her mother had gone into a coma. It pained her deeply to know that such a loving, warmhearted woman could be put into such a state, unresponsive and perpetually sleeping. Even so, Charlie continued to visit her, reading to her every chance she got, all in hopes that her mother would someday wake up.

A soft sigh escaped the girl as she waited in the elevator, descending to the first floor of the clinic. She would walk home alone, as always, return to that empty apartment of hers, just as she did every other night. It had gotten to the point where she almost preferred the hectic medical center to her own home - sure, she wasn't able to get much computer activity done, but at least there was a guaranteed presence of others.

Within moments, the elevator came to a halt, the thick, metallic doors parting, sliding open to reveal the first floor. Charlie stepped away from the contraption, making her way toward the front exit.

"G'night, Charlie," one of the hospital staff members waved to her as she walked, "be careful on your way home."

"You too, James." the girl replied, flashing a small grin, accompanied by a wave of her hand.

The outside air was crisp and breezy, a cloudy sky looming overhead. Perfect weather for a storm to brew on the way home.

_Great, just what she needed. She'd probably be soaked before even making it to the halfway mark. _

Pushing a strand of windswept hair from her face, Charlie braced herself for the upcoming trek home. The streets ahead, usually bustling with activity during this hour, were curiously inactive and lacking of population. That, combined with the chilly air and the darkening, clouded sky made it all seem a bit ominous - almost like the first five minutes of a horror television show.

_Oh, god, she sure hoped this wasn't the first five minutes of a horror television show._

The auburn-haired girl didn't hesitate to pick up her pace - the sooner she got home, the better. Something in the air seemed to be stirring about, something… _apprehensive_, though she couldn't quite tell what, and it made her hella nervous. Brewing of little thunderstorms like this didn't ever make her this nervous. Sure, she wasn't particularly a _fan_ of the crashing thunder and lightning, but it was never this bad.

Actually, it was getting worse by the moment, the farther she walked. Cool droplets pattered onto her jacket, following to the neatly paved ground below. It started with one drop, then multiplied to two, four, six, eight, all going on to become a blanket of rain, which cloaked the city in a hydrous mist.

"Ugh, man, I'm never going to make it home in this weather…" Charlie thought aloud, mumbling to herself.

_**"Of course you won't!"**_

A high-pitched, shrill voice echoed throughout her head. Her eyes widened as she came to a halt, frantically turning around.

There wasn't anyone behind her.

Welp, this was officially creepy. With a couple of quick, paranoid glances around the rest of the area, Charlie found that there was nobody there.

"Oh, _crap_ - who's there?"

The piercing voice echoed again, _**"You're going to die before you get home, Charlie! You're going to die all alone!"**_

An ear-splitting giggle resonated around her, echoing and intensifying in rapid succession. Panic-stricken, the girl shielded her ears in attempts to mask the painful sound. It didn't help - in fact, it only made the matter worse as the laughter amplified.

"D-don't mess with me!" she shouted, an obviously empty threat, "I'm _**the**__ Queen of Moondor_ - definitely not someone you want to screw with!"

Charlie let out a frightened yelp as the ground below her began to tremble violently, shaking before collapsing under her, shattering like a thin layer of glass.

In the same respect, the setting around her began to disintegrate, fading into a surreal scape. Darkened creatures surrounded her, eyes flaring in a sharp golden hue. They pranced about, ever so cheerful as sharp, wicked laughter escaped them. Flames shot up above her, the smoke clouding her lungs. She coughed harshly, and as she did, the little deformities came closer.

_**"You'll never make it back! It's inevitable, Charlie, you'll just have to give it all up!"**_

Closer, closer, they crept, digging their sulphuric little claws into her body. A wave of pain crashed through her. God, she didn't know what was going on, but it was _terrifying_.

"Is this seriously how it's going to end?" she kicked away one of the smoggy creatures as it dug its claws into her leg, "Getting killed by some _freaky little monsters_?"

She just couldn't believe _this_ was how she'd spend her last moments! What a way to die, oh, what a way…

- Then, suddenly, like a miracle had struck, something intervened.

"Oh, _hell no_. You're not getting away from me this time, _creepy little bastards_."

A feminine voice could be heard, and just like that, the creature attacking Charlie were skewered by glinting knifelike objects. They hissed and steamed, letting out shrieks of defeat, flickering like fireflies before dissipating in clouds of smoke. The wretched creatures left just as quickly as they arrived.

Charlie spun around to the one who'd slain the beasts. A brunette whose hair bounced about with well-groomed curls, soft features, and a rosy lips that curled into a snide smirk - _Oh no, she's hot!_

The glamorous girl brushed some dust away from her hair just as she she landed from a hovering state, the knife items disappearing from the ground like fading holographs.

"Gotcha."

She walked up to Charlie, her high-heels making a crackling noise against the ashen ground. What a weird outfit she had on; it was dark, a deep brown adorned with orange accents. A leather-clad outfit, a long, almost trenchcoat-length jacket over top of a sepia-tinted dress. Bizarrely unique, as if the chick had just rolled fresh out of an anime convention.

Charlie remained speechless, watching the young lady who approached. Her gaze was fiery, a strong hazel flare to it. Her eyebrow raised, and as she examined Charlie, the redhead found herself in an equal mixture of awe and terror.

"Now, who might _you_ be?" the brunette drawled, a tone of voice oversweetened and viscous like honey, "A _brave explorer_, I take it?"

"N-No," the redhead stuttered, "I'm not a -"

_Come on, Charlie. Don't stutter in front of the total babe. Keep it together, woman!_

"Charlie!" she blurted out, clapping her hands over her mouth. Couldn't bring herself to flirt at a time like this, she'd _just_ almost died!

"_Charlie_," the alluring stranger repeated her name, "Like, Charlie Brown?"

Charlie coughed again, partially from being flustered, partially from the _freaky smoke that was still overhead_, "Actually, it's just a nickname. Short for Charlene, Charlene Bradbury…"

She trailed off with a confused frowning expression.

The stranger, however, was far less confused. In fact, she seemed to be the opposite of confused, and she flashed a confident smirk before tilting her head a bit to the side,

"Well, _Charlene Bradbury_, it's awfully _balls-y_ of you to wander into a Witch's labyrinth like that."

"A _witch's labyrinth_? Like, like… _What_?"

A low chuckle escaped the confident little lady, "_Ding-ding, you get a gold star._ You've just _coincidentally stumbled_ into a fiery pit of danger."

Nervously, Charlie glanced at the floor surrounding her, shadowy splotches in place of the creatures that had just attacked her, "Those were _witches_? Like, _real_ real witches?"

Sure, she'd seen witches in LARPing, movies, video games, et cetera, but she couldn't possibly imagine they were… _real!_ She never pictured them to be so _shadowy_, either.

"Psh," the girl interrupted her thought process, "Not at all. Those little pricks are familiars - the witch's henchmen. Huge pain in the ass, if you ask me."

Charlie simply let out a trembling sigh; how the hell was she supposed to take this in? Kind of difficult to process; this was _nothing_ that she'd expected to get herself into. She just wanted to go home, maybe settle down with the night's _Star Trek_ marathon, relax a bit before school - not _this!_

The room around them began to tremble.

"Alright, look, Charlie," replied the peculiarly attractive girl, "I hate to burst your bubble, but you're legit going to die, unless you get your ass in gear and follow me. It won't be too long before the witch wakes up."

"You don't have to tell me again!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Charlie followed close behind. As the pair walked, the surroundings area began to shape itself into a landscape resembling a college campus, oddly enough. Flaming books flew about in some weird, seemingly impossible manner, flinging themselves toward the duo. Just as the devilish creatures, they were penetrated and disintegrated by those strange, glowing knives.

"_Stanford_?" Charlie read aloud one of the signs plastered around them, "Is _this_ what college is going to be like?"

Could barely handle highschool, as it was. Geez.

"Burning ceilings and books trying to kill you?" the brunette smirked, "Who knows. It's probably worse than this."

Up ahead, the ceiling blazed with intensity, causing some rubble to crash down from it, right behind the girls. Again, the ground trembled, this time more vigorously than the last.

"What - what was_ that_?" Charlie asked.

The brunette shook her head, sneering a bit, "You sure do ask a lot of questions, chickadee."

Another group of those bizarre, devilish beings followed, their smoky forms curling around the duo. They crowded, huddling close together before stumbling their way between Charlie and the one who saved her, knocking them both to the ground. She felt a dull pain in her back as she sat up, only to find the familiars leaping toward her, gaping mouths revealing rows of sharp teeth.

At instance, knives pierced through them, their forms dispersed, evaporating into the thickened air. They reappeared behind the brunette in attempts to snatch her from behind, though their effort was in vain. They hissed and spat before meeting a proper demise.

Charlie felt a bit unsettled, and she _did_ want to help - the issue was that she still had absolutely _no_ idea what was going on. To say that she was disoriented would be a major understatement.

The ground beneath her began to tremble right as she was about to ask if the other was okay, and a screech could be heard from above, muffled and distant.

"Aw, damn it. _Already_." the other girl huffed, her voice agitated and unenthusiastic, "It knows we're here. Time to pick up the pace."

"Wh-" Charlie was interrupted before she could make another inquiry as her hand was seized, the other girl pulling her along the narrow hallways.

The whole area seemed to be collapsing, the ceiling crumbling behind them, every step they took. Hordes of the inky creatures tagged along, getting executed as weapons were flung in their direction.

Ultimately, the hallway lead into a large room, which, when examined, seemed incredibly spacious. A sweet smell filled the air, not unlike freshly baked cookies. The minions following were entirely gone, and the room was silent save for the crackling of fire.

"So, Charlie," the girl turned her head to Charlie, "How good are you with _taking cover_?"

Before Charlie received a chance to answer, she was yet again cut off by a warm liquid dropping onto her face. She attempted to wipe it off, startled to see the results.

_Blood._

Another scream escaped the ceiling as she gawked at the blood on her hand, and upon looking up, she met quite the horrific sight.

Stuck to the igneous ceiling was a large form, one shaped similar to a woman in appearance. Blood poured from its abdomen, hitting the flood with splatters. The beastly thing convulsed, raspy breaths escaping it in a most tormenting manner.

Once again, familiars swarmed the girls, all in considerably taller form. One managed to get a hold of both Charlie and her unnamed companion, causing the redhead cry out in agony.

Released was the clenching grip, again saved by the luminescent blades.

She could do nothing but watch as the strange girl managed to fight away the familiars, fending them off and ending each of their lives.

Next was the woman ablaze, who unleashed her own offensive moves unto the leather-jacketed damsel, all of which were dodged expertly. The brown-haired one attacked back with precision, penetrating the monstrosity above with dozens of blades.

The final strike was soon delivered upon the fiend when a large sword-like formation was summoned by the fighting mademoiselle, impaling the entity up above. Shaking, _shaking_, _**shaking**_ was the ground as the blood-soaked monstrosity fell to the ground with a huge thud, falling apart as the world around them morphed, fading back to a city scape.

Up above, the ceiling disappeared, the bright inferno replaced with a moody night sky. A clink could be heard as a small jewel hit the ground, spinning around against the pavement.

The world as she knew it had safely returned, leaving not a single trace of the bizarre barrier she became entangled in.

"Oh my god." Charlie breathed, her voice nothing more than a whisper.

She gazed upon the brunette girl, who chuckled softly, "_Yeah_, not quite."

"Who… Who _are_ you?"

"Meg - _Magical Girl extraordinaire_."


End file.
